A guitar has a certain volume level which is limited. In many instances, it is adequate for a small crowd or a relatively small room. In other instances, an acoustic guitar is simply too small and not sufficiently audible to fill a large concert hall, nightclub or other facility with sound, and the sound must be boosted by an amplification system. Various and sundry types of signal pick-ups have been used heretofore. Detectors which detect the sound of a given string or of all guitar strings as a unit have been employed. The present invention is a device which is particularly able to pick up the sound with all the richness of the acoustic guitar. It is particularly advantageous over string pick-up devices known heretofore. Many string pick-up devices previously used have simply responded to string movement. String vibration is the beginning of guitar sound, but it is not the complete guitar sound. A guitar is distinctive from other string instruments, such as a mandolin, ukelele and so on. These differences show up in the vibration modes which are enhanced or suppressed by the shape of the body of the acoustical string instrument. The quality of sound thus is, in large part, dependent on vibrations in the instrument body, not solely in the instrument string. The present invention is able to pick up both types of vibrations and convert them into an electrical signal. The signal, itself, then can be amplified in the customary manner.
The present invention thus merges two types of vibratory movement into a single, electrical signal. The signal can then thereafter be easily amplified. The present invention picks up both types of movement; movement of the string and movement of the guitar body. The present invention further is enhanced in its performance by converting the mechanical vibrations into electrical signals of an amplitude which is easily worked with. The amplitude is certainly not down in the microvolt region. It is not so small as to be highly susceptible to noise. Rather, it provides an output signal in the millivolt region which is easily amplified.
The present invention is a pick-up which can be added to an acoustic guitar and removed after its use. It affixes to the guitar in a very simple fashion, and it is able to be removed in a similarly easy manner.